The European part of the Formula 1 season has come to an end and the sport bids farewell to the Old Continent as it prepares for the final third of the championship, starting in Baku, the City of Winds. The Azerbaijan capital is the biggest urban area on the Caspian Sea, as well as of the entire Caucasus region. It has hosted a Grand Prix every year since 2016 with the exception of 2020. Curiously, that first year it was known as the European Grand Prix, even though Azerbaijan is geographically in Asia.

The compounds
Pirelli is bringing its softest trio of 2025 compounds for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which is a step softer than last year. In fact, the C6 is back as the Soft, having already been used in Imola, Monaco and Montreal. The C5 will be the Medium and the C4 the Hard.

On a street circuit with low levels of grip and wear, bringing the same selection as in 2024 would inevitably have led to a one-stop strategy. At least this way, considering that this year’s range suffers much less from graining, it opens up the possibility of a two-stop strategy. Moreover, it is clear that this year, most recently at Monza, the teams and drivers have become adept at managing the tyres well, so that the race is unlikely to see very different strategies. Although it’s a street track, Baku has some very long straights where the cars hit very high top speeds, that place significant vertical loads on the tyres.

In 2024
The majority of drivers (14) went with the C4 (Medium) for the first stint, with the rest of the field choosing the C3 (Hard). Of those on the front five rows of the grid, only Norris (McLaren) and Albon (Williams) went with the hardest compound. As already mentioned, before the start the entire field looked to have planned on a single stop. However, Stroll and Verstappen made a second stop, in the case of the former because of a puncture and for the latter, in an attempt to pick up the extra point for setting the fastest race lap, as did Pierre Gasly who drove the longest stint, completing 50 laps on the Hard, before switching to Softs on the penultimate lap.

The track
The Baku circuit is 6.003 kilometres long and winds its way through the old town and the more modern part of the Azerbaijan capital. It boasts 20 corners, many of them at 90 degrees. The main straight is very wide and has room for at least three cars to race side by side. However, in some sections of the old city such as turn 8, the narrowest of all, the track is only seven metres wide.

As is always the case on this type of circuit, the margin for error is minimal and the slightest mistake from a driver carries a high price. This means that the Safety Car can be a regular feature in qualifying and the race.

Speeds in Baku also vary wildly. The unofficial fastest top speed recorded in a Formula 1 event was set here by Valtteri Bottas who hit 378 km/h in qualifying for the 2016 race, but there are tight sections tackled at around 60 km/h. That makes life difficult for the engineers when it comes to defining the level of aerodynamic downforce, seeking the most efficient compromise to ensure the car is competitive in both qualifying and the race.

Keyword: Cooling
In Baku, the surface of the tyres goes through continuous cycles of heating and cooling, with very wide variations in temperature over the course of the lap, because of the different characteristics in various sections of the track. In the tight parts in the old city, the tyres come under a lot of stress, thus increasing the surface temperature of the rubber. It then cools drastically, especially in the section from the exit of turn 16 to the braking zone for turn 1, which is taken pretty much at full throttle as the corners within it are really just kinks. Across the front axle, temperatures can reach around 90 °C but by the end of the long straight, it can drop by as much as 40 °C, which can catch out the driver in the braking area during qualifying or if battling in the race, or even more significantly, at the restart following a Safety Car period.

Another factor to consider in Baku is that the buildings alongside the circuit throw shade over the track and, along with the wind, this can significantly reduce air temperature too.

Statistics Corner
There have been eight Grands Prix held on the shore of the Caspian Sea, with seven different winners. The only driver to claim two victories is Sergio Perez, driving for Red Bull in 2021 and 2023. The Milton Keynes squad is the most successful with further wins in 2017 and 2022, courtesy of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen respectively. Mercedes has won three times with Rosberg in 2016, Hamilton in 2018 and Bottas in 2019, while last year, Oscar Piastri was first across the finish line for McLaren.

While there have been several names on the winner’s trophy, when it comes to pole positions, one driver is the master of Baku: Charles Leclerc has been quickest in qualifying four times in a row from 2021 to 2024, even at times when his car had not seemed competitive enough to take pole. The other drivers who have secured the top grid slot are Rosberg (2016), Hamilton (2017), Vettel (2018) and Bottas (2019).

Perez leads the way when it comes to podium finishes with 5, followed by Vettel on 3. As for the teams, Mercedes is on 7 ahead of Red Bull with 6 and Ferrari on 5.